Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 119
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 119
30. Opportunity Quest Stage 8 (3)
[You are moved to a secret space by the Archgod Ariel.]
The forced teleportation message that appears when you reach the target level for the Opportunity Quest.
It's already been over half a year since I saw this message.
It took about a month to raise my level from 1 to 150, and two months to raise it from 151 to 200.
And since it took about half a year to raise levels 201 to 250, I've spent longer as a 7th Circle than I did as a non-7th Circle since encountering the Opportunity.
As with all RPGs, the experience required increases exponentially as levels go up, but also, being unable to participate in party play or raid battles, which become mandatory past level 200, cost me more time than the average user.
[This is the 1st floor of Manuel Lucas's Mage Tower.]
"Arcia, let's top off our HP quickly."
"Yes."
"But shouldn't Bug be considered half a related party? It'd be nice if he could enter the Opportunity Quest subjugation mission too, but they say he can't enter because he's not a related party."
"Even if he could enter, he probably wouldn't have made it in this time since he died."
"Ah, right."
Even after absorbing all the Opportunities, I plan to hide the fact that I'm Grand Duke Lucas's heir as much as I can.
Turning the Bringham Empire into an enemy is a hassle, and I need time to train my strength after sorting out the Opportunities.
If I get found out unavoidably, I'll respond accordingly, but revealing it myself will only happen when I think I can take on the Bringham Empire.
It took a little over half a year to go from level 201 to 250, so going from 251 to 300 will probably take at least a year, if not more.
Perhaps the existence of the Bug might shorten it a bit, but finishing within a year will still be difficult.
[Named monster Balrog Tarnis has appeared.]
[During the Opportunity Quest subjugation mission, consumable attack items such as bombs and scrolls cannot be used.]
Well, regardless, all I can do is always keep trying.
My path is already set.
"Strength, Haste, Divine Enchant, Iron Body, Magic Curtain, Forward Attack, Forward Defense."
[Strength increases by 10%.]
[Agility increases by 10%.]
[Holy attack power increases by 10%.]
[Defense increases by 10%.]
[Magic defense increases by 10%.]
[Melee attack power increases by 10%.]
[Melee defense increases by 10%.]
The buffs wrapped us in various effects, and holographic messages scrolled before our eyes.
Following that, the colossal monster Balrog that appeared before us let out a roar and stared at us with bright yellow eyes.
-Kiiiiiieeeek!
At the same time, the 1st floor of Manuel Lucas's Mage Tower, where Balrog Tarnis and we were, expanded as wide as four combined sports fields, stretching like a rubber band.
Naturally, as the combat space expanded, our distance from Balrog Tarnis also grew from about 50 meters to about 200 meters.
"Terrifying."
A demon-type monster that looked like a Minotaur's body with a Drake's head, wings, and tail attached.
That's roughly how you'd describe Balrog's appearance.
At about 10 meters tall, its physique isn't large for a raid monster, but with flames wrapping its entire body and the floor sizzling with every flap of its wings, it gives off a presence that makes you hesitate to approach.
"We'll need to cast fire resistance magic too."
But if you look only at its appearance, it's not much different from the Dragonkin we've been hunting all along.
So we didn't shrink back from its aura and quickly moved in as planned.
Black Eagle the black dog flew high in the air as if about to touch the ceiling, Arcia took the lead with her shield raised, and I followed closely behind her.
If she, as an Aura Master, ran at full speed with buffs, I couldn't catch up, but we've fully grasped each other's strength and agility.
The speed she slowed to was my maximum movement speed, and even while chasing closely behind her, I felt no hindrance in my running at all.
"The first pattern is the same."
"Should we dodge?"
"No, we need to clash with it at first. We need to accurately gauge the enemy's attack power."
In the case of a normal Balrog, the first attack is often an AoE breath, and Tarnis was the same.
The reason I, confident in my evasive movement, was following behind Arcia was also to be wary of the breath.
-KWAANG!
A fire breath like a laser extending in a straight line.
Arcia slowed her running speed with her shield raised, and I stuck close as if supporting her back, using ice magic.
The ice was to keep Arcia from suffering from the breath's heat.
To gauge the breath's power first, I didn't directly support her.
"Hmph!"
The beam of light extending in a straight line scattered in all directions from Arcia's shield.
-KWAANG! KWAANG! BOOM!
Behind us, loud destruction rang out across the ceiling, floor, and wall alike as tremendous pressure swept through, and Arcia, pushed back three steps, took a deep breath and said.
"Barely tolerable."
"Good!"
A normal Balrog's breath lasts about 3 seconds, but Balrog Tarnis's breath lasted about 5 seconds.
Just before its attack stopped.
I used Water Cannon magic on the fire breath to create an artificial mist field.
Water Cannon magic is 6th Circle magic, so it required a bit of casting, but the few seconds Arcia was blocking its breath was enough time.
-FWHOOOOSH!
Unlike low-grade fog-generating magic, the fog created by the natural evaporation of a 6th-circle spell was extremely dense.
In truth, even this could be dispelled by a single roar from it, but not missing the brief moment of confusion as the mist suddenly obstructed its vision and spread, Arcia and I struck its flank.
-THUD! THUD!
If a tiger had the speed of a bullet, it would look like Arcia.
She closed the nearly 50-meter distance in just two steps, diving into Tarnis's flank, and I used Blink to keep up with her speed.
-SHLIK!
At the same time, Arcia's Aura Blade and my high-level magic tore apart Tarnis's left and right wings, one each.
-KEEEAAAH!
There's no monster more annoying to deal with than a flying type.
Fighting an enemy in the air reduces attack routes, and since Arcia, a swordswoman, loses her burst speed and destructive power without a foothold, fighting on the ground was far easier in many ways.
[You pathetic wretches!]
Tarnis, which had only been making 'kiiik' and 'kiaak' sounds until now, expressed its anger directly, as if enraged.
But getting this excited in the middle of battle, especially without knowing where the enemies hidden in the un-dispersed mist were, only looked like a signal to come and get hit.
-KWAANG!
-SPURT!
Arcia's Aura Blade and a 7th Circle light-attribute Laser Blast severed both of its Achilles tendons, robbing it of its ground mobility as well.
-KIAAAK!
Tarnis, seemingly thinking this couldn't go on, let out a scream-like roar and dispersed the mist.
But right after our attacks ended, as if predicting this exact move, Black Eagle, flying stealthily, swiftly grazed past its cheek.
And then...
-KWAANG!
Like a bomber, a massive explosion occurred at the spot Black Eagle had passed, and the source of the explosion was Tarnis's left eye.
[GRAAAH! Damn it!]
It was an attack using Magic Sharing, one of Black Eagle's skills along with Sight Sharing.
I transferred a 7th Circle explosion spell to Black Eagle, and that spell successfully struck Tarnis's eyeball at nearly zero range.
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Tearing its wings, severing its Achilles tendons, and blowing away its left eyeball all in near-instant speed and coordination.
-KWAANG! BOOM!
-SHLIK! SPURT!
[Die!]
Tarnis is certainly a strong monster.
A raid monster with a far higher challenge difficulty than even the Death Knight we challenged when we reached level 200.
But why?
Even while facing such a powerful enemy.
For some reason, I didn't feel like we would lose.
"Earthquake AoE!"
"Yes!"
With Arcia moving like my own limbs and the black dog cutting off the enemy's flow like scratching exactly where it itched, I had only one companion and one beast with me, but we overwhelmed a raid monster that should require a full subjugation party.
At this very moment, my mind was clearer than ever, and Tarnis's movements seemed to slow to half speed, all visible at a glance.
'Is it because I've indirectly experienced countless deaths by sharing the senses of reality?'
'Is it because I've continued battles that were practically real against tens, hundreds of millions of monsters?'
I was completely dominating the battlefield.
* * *
"Huk! Huhuk!"
The southern jungle region of the Kingdom of Roberto.
A woman who had yet to shed her girlishness ran through the dense forest as if being chased by a tiger.
"Father, Mother."
She shed tears in streams as she thought of her father and mother, and the reason was not unrelated to the warriors fiercely chasing her.
-KWAANG!
At that moment, light flashed from one of the warriors chasing her, and the rock right beside her exploded.
Fortunately, the attack missed.
But the force of the explosion sent her frail body flying far away, and unfortunately, the place she landed was a swamp notorious for being so deep and vast that escape was nearly impossible.
"Why must you make things so difficult, Princess."
"H-How dare you do this... I trusted you!"
Her once-glorious dress was now covered in mud, and the man-devouring swamp, as if determined not to let go of its rare prey, slowly pulled her into the ground.
She, heedless of that, poured out her indignation at the opponent, and the answer that came back was a sneer.
"I'm sorry, but the world isn't generous enough for relationships to be strengthened by trust alone."
"Even so! How dare you kill the king that the captain of the royal guard was supposed to protect!"
"Don't be so naive. Side with those who bring profit and cut down those who don't. Isn't that the natural order of things?"
"What?"
"If Your Highness had become the Saintess, the situation would have been different. The snake-eyed ministers wouldn't have dared dream of usurpation, and His Majesty would have enjoyed peace without meeting his end."
Princess 'Sia Rin' of the Kingdom of Roberto, who had rapidly garnered the people's support as the dark horse of the Saintess contest and was also a leading Saintess candidate.
Although the position of Saintess went to Ibril, no one could have predicted that she, who had fought hard and shown a good performance until the very end, would become a mud-covered dethroned princess in just one month.
Currently, the Kingdom of Roberto is in a state of civil war.
The reason is the all-too-predictable attempt at usurpation by nobles consumed by lust for power.
As the regime of President Fairmont of the Prius Republic, the Kingdom of Roberto's stalwart pillar and Sponsor, collapsed in revolution, cracks began to form throughout the dike that had held the royal family up.
Since the Kingdom of Roberto had always had a noble council larger than the royal family, there seemed to be no better opportunity for the powerful ministers to covet the throne than now.
As a result, it was a tragedy for Princess Sia Rin and a comedy for the greedy opportunists.
"I'm sorry, but you must die. Even if we let anyone else live, you, of all people, cannot. Your popularity, exceeding your station, hastened your death."
"A, ahh..."
Princess Sia Rin's eyes sank as if dead.
Her eyes, once filled with goodness and intelligence, grew vacant and dull like those of a corpse.
As if waiting for death, she bowed her head, baring her white neck, and the warriors, seemingly uneasy at heart, exchanged glances with awkward coughs.
She was intelligent.
She also had a great heart for her people and a strong will to develop the nation.
She simply lacked power.
-Shing.
In the end, it was the captain of the royal guard who drew his sword.
But at that moment.
Princess Sia Rin, who had been sinking slowly into the swamp with her head bowed as if dead, muttered something.
"...I'll..."
"Huh?"
"...I'll throw it all away."
"What?"
"I'll kill you all! I swear I will have my revenge on you!"
Where had the angelic purity and shyness gone? Startled by Princess Sia Rin's sudden maddened shriek, they flinched.
She, who had been secretly chanting a spell with her head bowed, cried out.
"Northwest, water, Xuanwu!"
Then, from the swamp, a massive serpent as thick as a human torso surged up and flung the Knights away.
"Wha!?"
"Damn it! What are you doing!"
The serpent was instantly severed at the hand of the captain of the royal guard who had drawn his sword, but as a result of that wasted Strike, Princess Sia Rin, with the aid of her summoned beast Xuanwu (a mythical beast with a tortoise body and a serpent head as its tail), disappeared into the swamp.
"D, damn it."
Never having imagined she would dive into the very swamp that was swallowing her, they panicked and fired force after force at the spot where the princess had vanished, but the swamp was far too deep and vast.
A moment of carelessness left behind a great seed of disaster.